Indians prefer to travel abroad during festivals and long weekends. Here’s where they go to

There will be 15 long weekends in 2018. To make the most of it, take some pointers from the findings of a travel search engine.

The average length of travel for the top five international destinations including Hong Kong was five to six days last year, which has increased this year to an average of seven to eight days.(Shutterstock)

With almost 15 long weekends lined up this year, Indian travel enthusiasts are making the most of the chance to explore international over domestic destinations, according to research. A number of individuals — either solo or with friends and family — are booking trips online. Travellers are no longer limiting their visits to domestic destinations, and international travel bookings are booming even for short weekend trips, as per travel search engine Kayak.

The platform carried out travel data analysis regarding weekend getaway trends based on the search dates January 1 to 15, when travellers searched for holiday getaways for travel dates January 1 to December 31, said a statement. The research suggests that festivals are the new travel days as passionate travellers seek adventures abroad with the most popular travel weekend being Maha Shivratri, Holika Dahan and Good Friday.

Singapore, Dubai and Bangkok are ranked as the three most popular international destinations for weekend getaways in 2018, while on the domestic front, beach destinations like Goa, Mumbai, Port Blair and Kochi are a popular option.

The average length of travel for the top five international destinations — Singapore, Dubai, Bangkok, Bali and Hong Kong — was five to six days last year, which has increased this year to an average of seven to eight days.

Abhijit Mishra, Regional Manager, India and Middle East, KAYAK, said: “Releasing findings like this one are of great value as they help travellers to better understand their own behaviour as well as that of the market, knowledge which they can use to save on future holidays.”